Cost-Efficient Absence

I didn't go to work two days in a row.

Yesterday, it was my daughter's birthday and I had to absent myself or they wouldn't let me go off work on time for my daughter's birthday party which was at 4pm.  It was on a MONDAY.  My excuse for this unusual choice of date and time was because Via's class ends at 3:30pm and it would be convenient for her and her class to go straight to a nearby Shakey's restaurant to get some fun and afternoon snacks with their nannies or hands-on parents.  I didn't expect for them to go the extra mile to even change from their school uniforms.  I wanted it to be as spontaneous as a class party.  No gifts was even expected.  I wanted my daughter to be pleasantly surprised in her special day.

I woke up this morning intending to go to work today.

However, I had a migraine that wouldn't go away even after I finished my early cup of coffee.  I had to call (or text) in sick.  I am spending the early hours of the day attending to my studies.  I still have to remind myself that I'm still on training.  And it is actually more important to train academically than earn money (salary) during the training.  Money will come after.

Two days in a row.  That's how much they're going to miss me at work which they probably won't.  I love my work. Unfortunately, I love my daughter even more.  And there's a greater probability that I'd be able to do more "work" at home than when I'm actually present there.

In the meantime, I'm isolating myself from the world until 3pm today.  I'm locking myself in my bedroom door in my parents' house with coffee and garlic bread.

Birthdate at Pho Hoa

It was Papa's birthday.

And so, we spent sometime together while our daughter was in school (it was a Monday).  We're not so big on birthdays unless it was Via Faith's.  And so, we did a couple of errands while we were out of the house.

His birthday included paying our bills in Globe for our internet.  While I was in line, he was looking at the phones available for postpaid plans.  We walked out of the phone shop saying kidding him about the phones on display that we couldn't afford to add to our monthly bills.

We made his birthday our grocery day too.  It has always been his duty to choose what and how much meat and poultry products we need to buy.  It's my duty to buy the other unimportant junk that I usually eat at home and in the work place.  And so, it was kind of an errand day for him.

The only treat that we had was eating in our favourite noodle restaurant.  And we get our money's worth.  We ate there in silence for a moment savouring every sip of the hot noodle soup.

It was our kind of thing.  It's not everyday that we can afford eating out.  We had to spend it wisely.  For people like us, birthdays are never for splurging.